Air elemental
E air elemental 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 10 |
| Attacks |
Engulf 1d10 physical |
| Base level | 8 |
| Base experience | 126 |
| Speed | 36 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 30 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 0 |
| Nutritional value | 0 |
| Size | Huge |
| Resistances | poison, petrification |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
An air elemental:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line1364 |
An air elemental, E, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is an unsolid, whirly elemental that is strong and capable of flight.
An air elemental has a single engulfing attack that batters the target with debris for physical damage, and possesses poison resistance and stoning resistance.
Contents
Generation
Randomly generated air elementals may be peaceful towards neutral characters. Air elementals generated on the Plane of Air will have up to three times as many hit points.[1][2][3]
In addition to random generation, a hostile air elemental may be generated as a minion of an angry neutral god.
Air elementals appear among the random E that are part of the first quest class for Monks and make up 24⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Monk quest. They also appear among the the random E that are part of the second quest class for Samurai and make up 6⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Samurai quest.
Eleven hostile air elementals are generated on the Plane of Air at level creation.[4]
Air elementals are not a valid target for genocide. An air elemental does not leave a corpse upon death.
Strategy
The air elemental is the fastest monster that can be encountered in the game, and its 36 speed is the primary factor behind its deadliness: the amount of turns it can get while engulfing you and pummeling you with debris causes damage to pile up, even against fast and well-armored characters. Additionally, the damage is non-elemental, making it harder to defend against; half physical damage and high AC can blunt the damage dealt.
Warning is a good property for trying to spot approaching hostile air elementals, since they are mindless and cannot be detected by telepathy. Wands, spells and tools that scare monsters can give you a significant edge against an air elemental, making it easier to weaken or kill them with other forms of magic and ranged attacks - be mindful of an air elemental's 30 MR score, which gives it a significant chance of resistance.
To avoid being engulfed in the first place, a polyform that is huge or larger can reliably prevent an air elemental from engulfing you. You can use a wand of teleportation to send an approaching air elemental elsewhere, and a wand or spell of sleep can also immobilize it and give you valuable turns to either escape the monster or bring it down. A source of conflict can keep the air elemental occupied fighting other monsters, allowing you to escape or defeat it as necessary.
If you are engulfed by an air elemental, you can escape using tools such as a bugle to scare it into releasing you; the knock and slow monster spells (or their equivalents in the opening and slow monster wands) can also force the air elemental to expel you - in either case, their speed may allow them to get another chance at engulfing you. Teleportation is a fairly reliable means of escaping an air elemental, either by zapping it with a wand of teleportation on a non-teleport level, or else teleporting yourself on any other level. If all else fails in any event, you can try taming the air elemental, and a wand or finger of death will kill it instantly if it hits.
As a polymorph form
Air elementals are sometimes used as a polyself form for traveling purposes, due to their high speed and flight. In terms of combat, their base AC of 2 is unimpressive, they cannot wear armor and the engulfing attack falls short as the sole source of damage when dealing with large monsters, such as the expected giants and dragons. The polyform is also blind and lacks hands to adjust worn rings or open containers, among other actions - a wand of probing can reveal the identity of items you pick up while moving, as well as wearing the Eyes of the Overworld.
History
The air elemental first appears in NetHack 3.0.0. From this version to NetHack 3.3.1, including some variants based on those versions, the air elemental's pummel attack dealt twice as much damage due to changes in the speed system.[5] This is fixed in NetHack 3.4.0 via commit 06b78629.
Messages
- You are pummeled with debris!
- You are being attacked by an air elemental that has you engulfed.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, at least one air elemental is generated within the Cloud Bank of the Lawful Quest at level creation, with a 3⁄5 chance of a second one being placed nearby.
Air elementals appear among the random E that are part of the first quest class for Flame Mages and make up 24⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Flame Mage quest.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, 1⁄8 of randomly generated monsters on the Air Temple level of the Chaos Temple Quest will be air elementals.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, a hostile air elemental is generated on the Plane of Ice at level creation.
SlashTHEM
In addition to SLASH'EM details, SlashTHEM adds the greater air elemental, though air elementals cannot grow up into greater ones.
The Gnome King's Apiary variant of Mines' End has a hidden 2x2 square area in the west end where four hostile air elementals and a wand of death are generated at level creation.
The Electric Mage quest artifact The Harp of Lightning can be invoked to summon tame air elementals, and has a 3⁄4 chance of generating a standard one and a 1⁄4 chance of generating a greater one.
References
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 39: elementals and home planes
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1012: max HP for elementals on home planes
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1825: max HP gain for elementals on home planes
- ↑ dat/endgame.des in NetHack 3.6.7, line 172
- ↑ The Air Elemental FAQ - steelypips.org
